Long Distance Tri training - turbo only?

Izoard

Looking at a couple of longish tris for Spring 2012, however a mix of family commitments and weather will mean that, aside from the bike commute, 95% of the bike training would have to be turbo based.

Possible? Crazy? Advice?

griffin100

Some of the blogs / plans* I've read on how to go faster with less training :pac: have referenced doing most if not all of the bike training on the turbo as you can manage effort if you have a PM. That said I'm not sure what it'd do for your sanity.

*Not to go off topic but this is my favorite one - how to go sub 10hrs in an IM on 10hrs a week training - http://www.triforceteam.com/2010/08/sub-10-ironman-in-10-hours-per-week/ this one references using turbo for the long rides.

tunney

Head along to http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056350572 you should get all your answers there.

Izoard

tunney wrote: »

Head along to http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056350572 you should get all your answers there.

Seriously, if you don't rate GD or the original question, why waste your time with a dufus answer?

tunney

Apologies. The OP was and is a good question.

I've found myself in a similar position in 2010 (and to a lesser extent 2011).

There are pros and cons to doing most of your riding on the turbo and some very polarized schools of thought on it. Andy Potts for example does all his using on a turbo. Any interviews on Andy that touch on the topic tend to ooze contempt and ridicule.

I see the pros as being:
* time efficient - no lights no faffing
* location - if there is the potential
for you to be required at a moments notice it's alot easier to walk from the shed 2.5 hours into a 5 hour ride than it is to ride home 2.5 hours out
* time of day - it's always bright in the shed

The cons I see as:
* motivation - it can be harder to motivate yourself to ride indoors than outdoors
* direction - I think turbos of all length need to be planned and have specific sets IMHO
* the biggie, bike handling skills - bike handling is a huge part of being able to achieve a good bike split and indoor riding doesn't help it. An awareness of this can help. e.g. I've crashed before trying to put a water bottle aware while descending and cornering, something I was able to do fine when I rode outside alot (on this corner). My bike handling just wasn't there. I've accepted that and ride and pick my lines accordingly now.

All in all I think indoor riding simply has to make up a significant part of the cycling a long distance racing family man has to do.

(my sarky comment was actually not about GD or the op but at the level of man crushing going on )

couerdelion

Great answer by Tunney (second one )

Article from 220 here --> http://www.220triathlon.com/train/turbo-training-triathletes

There was an article in one of the mags a few months ago about some triathletes who are now nearly exclusively using the turbo. Pretty much as it's possible to do a planned session whatever the weather/time of day.

elvis jones

I hope to do a lot of turbo in the winter, could the type/brand of trainer you use have a bearing on how good the session is for you ???

Izoard

elvis jones wrote: »

I hope to do a lot of turbo in the winter, could the type/brand of trainer you use have a bearing on how good the session is for you ???

I have a pretty basic Tacx, but I think the real issue is having a coherent plan, whether based on HR, RPE or a Power Meter.

My turbo sessions this winter were generally spinning along at a leisurely pace until the movie was over:)

This won't really cut it if this is going to be my only bike training for a Spring LD tri attempt.

elvis jones

My main race for next yr is in July so i'll still a lot of spring riding done. I just need to get time in the saddle during the week and on a sat take the bike out for a hard hill session in the real world.

kennyb3

Izoard wrote: »

but I think the real issue is having a coherent plan

This won't really cut it if this is going to be my only bike training for a Spring LD tri attempt.

I think thats the key really - having a proper plan. Also if your not using power its prob a good idea to set a benchmark time on your commute and do a comparison run every so often just to guage where your at.

I say this as last spring there were numerous threads on tritalk and other places with people moaning that when they switched back to roads they felt s'hite or had lost a bit on before etc. I'd guess a fair bit of this is people fooling themselves that they were doing XYZ on the turbo when really they werent pushing hard enough.

nerraw1111

So when do people generally dust off the turbo? From October to Jan? And do people use turbos to maintain fitness or improve it during this period?

kennyb3

nerraw1111 wrote: »

So when do people generally dust off the turbo? From October to Jan? And do people use turbos to maintain fitness or improve it during this period?

Only when it snows for me - i bloody hate the things, although i don't have a fancy a'ss one with power, videos etc if i did i might feel differently.

mloc123

nerraw1111 wrote: »

So when do people generally dust off the turbo?

Dust off? I use mine all year round, in fact I will be on it this evening.

interested

mloc123 wrote: »

Dust off? I use mine all year round, in fact I will be on it this evening.

+1, when time is at a premium there's little options of mid week sessions - but as per earlier - each session should have a purpose (same for spins on the open road).

mloc123

interested wrote: »

+1, when time is at a premium there's little options of mid week sessions - but as per earlier - each session should have a purpose (same for spins on the open road).

Yup. I do all 'focussed' sessions on the turbo. Sitting on it watching tv while spinning is no use IMO.

TheEagles

griffin100 wrote: »

Some of the blogs / plans* I've read on how to go faster with less training :pac: have referenced doing most if not all of the bike training on the turbo as you can manage effort if you have a PM. That said I'm not sure what it'd do for your sanity.

*Not to go off topic but this is my favorite one - how to go sub 10hrs in an IM on 10hrs a week training - http://www.triforceteam.com/2010/08/sub-10-ironman-in-10-hours-per-week/ this one references using turbo for the long rides.

Just read the above link, i couldnt see anywhere about how many weeks or months before an IM you could do this 10hrs a week plan??